The failing care homes operator Southern Cross could be forced to spend more
than half a million pounds paying off its top executives when it closes.

The company is contractually obliged to make a number of so-called “golden
parachute” payouts, the biggest of which is owed to the chief executive,
Jamie Buchan.

While such payments are usual in corporate Britain, they will incense Southern
Cross’s 31,000 residents and their families who are facing months of
uncertainty as the company’s landlords seek alternative operators for 752
homes.

A spokesman for Southern Cross said yesterday that the board would decide in
the